A Student-Led Telehealth Group Falls Prevention Exercise Program for Older Adults in a Rural Community: A Pilot Study

This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of a student-led group falls prevention exercise program delivered to a fixed hub via telehealth to older adults in a remote community.

A convergent parallel mixed-methods design involving pre- and post-participation outcome measures, semi-structured focus groups and interviews explored the experiences and perspectives of participants completing the program and health professional students conducting the sessions.

Telehealth delivery to a very remote town (Modified Monash Model 7) in southwestern Queensland from a regional city in southeast Queensland.

Over 2022 and 2023, 17 community participants completed the program. Seven final year students, six studying exercise physiology and one studying physiotherapy, completed a clinical placement in a regional health and wellness clinic and implemented the telehealth program during their placement.

Community participants demonstrated significant improvements in mobility and function following program participation, with higher BOOMER scores (M = 13.12, 95% CI 11.94-14.29) and faster 10-m walk times (M = 8.56 s, 95% CI 7.31-9.81) compared to baseline (M = 10.94, 95% CI 9.04-12.84; and M = 10.31 s, 95% CI 8.32-12.31, respectively). Clinically meaningful gains on the 10-m walk test were achieved by 64.7% of participants. Beyond physical outcomes, the program fostered valuable social connections. Health professional students reported increased awareness of effective telehealth strategies and growth in clinical skills as additional benefits.

Telehealth delivery of a group-based exercise program to a fixed hub appears to be a feasible and well-accepted model of rural health service delivery for both older adults and health students. Wider implementation of this approach to a broader range of health services could improve access to high-value care for rural and remote communities.